Nanosystems Biology Cancer Center DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAMS ABSTRACT As specified in the RFA, we are setting aside $70k in direct costs for the Developmental NSBCC Program, and devoting those full resources towards the support of one or, more likely, two pilot projects. Each pilot project will be funded for a one year period, so that the proposed NSBCC will support between 5 and 10 such projects during the 5 year funding cycle. Pilot project proposals will be solicited from the broader Caltech and UCLA communities in the form of a brief (1-2 pages) format that will include a specific Aim, the proposed work plan, and a budget. The resources for these pilot projects are very limited, and so we will encourage submissions that leverage existing NSBCC research projects and core resources, but also have the scientific merit to potentially evolve into separately funded projects. Pilot Projects are refereed by the NSBCC executive council (please see Administrative Core). As described in the Administrative Core, the NSBCC is led by Jim Heath from Caltech and Michael Phelps from UCLA, with the Executive Council (EC) serving as a governing body. The Executive Council is comprised of the PI's from each of the Projects and Cores, and meets once a month, following a regularly scheduled NSBCC-wide scientific forum. The Pilot Program is overseen by the EC. Starting with positive announcement of center funding, we will convene an NSBCC EC meeting, and one of the major items on the agenda will be to solicit Pilot Project proposals. This will initiate a sequence of events that will occur over a 3 month period, with the monthly EC meetings providing the reference for this timeline. In month 1, pilot projects are solicited and received. In month 2, pilot projects are refereed. In month 3, pilot projects are awarded.